Wednesday question

Gawker's reporting that a freelance photographer at the NY Times is saying that the editor of photography called him a faggot. The editor denies it, of course, and an investigation by the Times (you'd think they'd be good at that sort of thing) resulted in a letter being put in the editor's file.

Of course, this is all hear-say, and the Post is reporting, and I'd trust them on a story that makes the Times look bad about as far as I could throw them. But Gawker says that they have emails from other employees that confirm.

Since I do a lot of freelance and contract work, I know that there really isn't a reason for a freelancer to make something like this up. I lost one such job several years ago because I complained about rampant anti-gay harassment on the job and another directly because of my sexuality (the latter was in a state with an anti-discrimination law, but try to prove not that you lost your job because of your sexuality, but a temporary contract, without that proverbial "I hate fags" letter signed by your employer).

So question: Have you ever faced unjust harassment on the job? Did management try to solve it?

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I was working as Site Director for an After-school program and was asked to submit to an HIV test as part of their policy on "random drug testing." I was told that all employees who were not married were asked to take an HIV test. I was told that they ASSUMED that a 25 y/o male, regardless of sexual orientation, was sexually active and therefore at risk.

I submitted to the test. I had no problem with being tested...I'd already been tested before. But I wanted assurances that I was not the only employee being asked to take an HIV test and, as I mentioned, was told that all employees who were not married were assumed to be sexuallly active and at risk for HIV & asked to be tested.

No surprise...at a faculty dinner when I asked other single and presumably sexually active employees if they had been tested yet they gave me the proverbial blank stare & then I had to explain to them that I had been asked to be tested for HIV.

When I complained to my supervisor and to the school Superintendant I was offered a verbal apology from my supervisor. The following semester I was demoted to "Assistant Director;" the second semester of that year I was dismissed.

When I worked at a nation wide import company I reported harassment to the proper people. After a small investigation, nothing was done. The manager being a female was believed over me. I ended up quitting a few months later due to bad hours, and a few other retaliations on the manager's part.